America’s Best value cars of 2013

Most savvy car buyers are aware that as soon as a new car gets driven off a dealer’s lot it immediately takes a dip in value. However, not all vehicles depreciate at the same pace over time. Wouldn’t it be great to know which new cars were likely to be worth the most when it’s time to sell? Automotive Lease Guide has been forecasting automotive residual values for more than 50 years, and is considered an industry benchmark for this calculation. For the past 13 years, ALG has been giving Residual Value Awards to vehicles and brands likely to retain the most value after three years of ownership. Let’s take a look at the winners for 2014.

Best cars 2013

The Jaguar F-TYPE is a cool-looking car, and the Convertible S model is even cooler — especially when it’s road-tested in the middle of winter, the way I did.

The car’s sleek exterior lines shouldn’t be marred by something as mundane as ordinary door handles. So the Jaguar F-TYPE uses what the British automaker calls “deployable door handles” that retract into the body of the car when not in use and pop out when needed.

If the car has keyless entry and push-button start like the Convertible S model I tested, you can just press the front of the recessed door handle and the doors will unlock and the handles will pop out. Pushing the rear of one of the handles locks the doors and causes the handles to retract. The handles also retract and become flush with the car at a certain speed.

For an F-TYPE without keyless entry, pressing the unlock button on the key fob causes the doors to unlock and the handles to pop out, and pressing it again locks the doors and hides the handles. On the car I tested, the side mirrors also fold in when the doors are locked since Jaguar hasn’t yet figured out a way to make those disappear — though that could be next.